Among diversity of proposed fuel cells, there is a known fuel cell having a hydrogen-permeable palladium metal film that is formed on a proton-conductive electrolyte layer and functions as an anode. The fuel cell of this structure is manufactured by, for example, forming a film of a solid electrolyte layer, such as a ceramic layer, on a thin film of a hydrogen-permeable metal layer.
There are, however, great difficulties in forming a sufficiently thin and dense film of the solid electrolyte layer, and it is highly probable that pores in the form of micro-cracks or pinholes are present in the solid electrolyte layer. In the process of forming an electrolyte layer on a hydrogen-permeable metal layer and subsequently forming a conductive layer, such as an electrode, on the electrolyte layer, an electrode material or another electrically conductive material may enter the pores present in the electrolyte layer. Such invasion of the electrically conductive material into the pores may cause a short circuit between the conductive layer and the hydrogen-permeable metal layer and lower the performance of the resulting fuel cell.